


The Trials of Ladybug and Chat Noir

by Allmyfandomthings



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, No Smut, adrien realizes that he might like marinette, alya is a perfect wingman, eventual reveal... but don't tell them that, i am not nice to marinette, i feel bad about it, i had to stop writing sometimes to make myself feel better, just some fluff areas, lots on violence, or if you want me to continue or not, please tell me what you think, there will be violence in later chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-14
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-11-14 01:04:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11197212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Allmyfandomthings/pseuds/Allmyfandomthings
Summary: Adrien is urged to become friends with more people at school, so he makes friends with Marinette Dupain-Cheng. But, there are some setbacks to this. What will happen to him when Marinette is akumatized? Or, when his Lady disappears?





	1. The push he needed

This akuma was the most annoying one yet. Chat Noir was sure of it. Not the power, that was just the ability to jump really high. Hawkmoth was running out of ideas. Nor was the location annoying, it was just in the school courtyard. No, the annoying thing was the timing. Adrien had something to do before class let out for lunch, and that didn’t leave him much time even before the akuma attacked. There was also what happened as he was hiding in the back of the locker room to transform. He heard Ladybug transform right next to him. 

He was in the locker rooms at the time, and was just getting plagg out of his jacket when he heard the cry: “Tikki, spots on!” and the sound of magic transforming someone into Ladybug. He waited a little bit, so she didn’t figure out that he was right there. He was ecstatic. Ladybug went to his school! She was within a small distance from him on nearly a daily basis! He couldn’t dwell on that, though, and instead focused on fighting the akuma.

It was over soon enough, and after Ladybug cleansed the akuma, they did their signature fist pound. It had become second nature, broken only when one of them was feeling extra emotional and hugged the other instead (it was usually Chat). They turned, and were assaulted by the usual group of reporters. Chat remained in the background, and stayed quiet. His Lady would be able to do it. He would just get in the way. 

As the reporters dispersed, Ladybug turned, grabbed him by the waist, and grappled to the top of the roof. 

“Why do you leave the reporters to me? I’m not mad, just wondering. Do you have something against them?”

Ah. She caught on to his poorly disguised plan. 

“I’m not fond of reporters.” It wasn’t a lie, he didn’t like them.

“I see. Is there a reason why?” Ladybug looked unconvinced.

“Um… well...” He couldn’t lie, not to her. But he could try to dance around the truth. Before he could open his mouth, though, she answered for him.

“Are you shy, Chat? Oh my goodness, you are, aren’t you?”

Now that was a truth that he never actually considered. He never considered himself as shy, but as he looked back, he realized the truth. He always tried to avoid people, and he never knew what to do in some situations. And, there was the matter of his friends.

“You got me. Chat Noir is shy as a civilian. I only have one true friend, and a few others that I would like to be friends with. Of course, none of them could hold a paw to you, My Lady.”

All Ladybug could do was giggle. “Well, you need to change that, then, don’t you Chaton? I expect to hear about progress on that front by the time we go on patrol tonight.”\

“Ah, My Lady, I am already making plans. And on that subject, I need to get going on them before it is too late!”

Adrien jumped off of the roof, and landed near a bathroom. He quickly went in, transformed, and walked out, pretending to be someone caught in the bathroom when an akuma attacked. He had gotten good at that recently. He walked back into the classroom, and looked at the time. It was nearly lunch time. He sat at his seat, surprised to see Marinette Dupain-Cheng sitting in her seat already. She usually came in late after an akuma attack. He turned to face her, and the other two sitting near them: Alya Cesaire, and Nino Lahiffe. 

“Hey, I am given a free lunch today. Would you mind if I joined you guys?”

There was a choking noise coming from the lump on the desk where Marinette used to be sitting. Alya prodded the lump, and Marinette jumped. 

“AH!! YES THAT WOULD BE GOOD!! Sorry. It would be good to eat you. I mean, it would be eat to good with you. Ugh. Sorry. That is fine!”

Adrien couldn’t help but smile, confused at her usual outburst. He never understood why she always acted like that when he was close. He had seen her act perfectly normal around everyone else. Why did she act like that around him? He had tried to ask Nino, and all he got was a shrug of the shoulders. When he tried asking Alya, she looked at him with genuine surprise, and then rolled her eyes, saying “You’re impossible. I can’t believe you haven’t noticed.”

Alya was patting the lump that had reappeared on Marinettes’ desk, and smirking at Nino. They had recently started dating, and Nino seemed to understand Marinette more. Adrien tried asking again, but Nino gave nearly the exact same response as Alya. All it did was confuse him more.

“Yeah, bro. We are just going to the cafe down the street. It’s my turn to buy.” Nino patted him on the back, and turned to the front as class resumed. Adrien couldn’t believe it. He was going to lunch with friends, like a normal person, not going home and eating alone like he normally did. He could hear Marinette saying something that sounded like “I can do this. I can do this.” under her breath.

The bell rang, and there was a stampede to the door. Adrien and the three others went down the steps, and turned to go to the cafe. Adrien was surprised by Marinette. She was showing a completely new side to her: funny and not stumbling over her words. They all laughed, and walked down the street. Suddenly, Alya gave a shriek. 

Alya pointed to a point on the wall, on a smooth section of brick. There was an “M” scratched on the wall. The Marauders had taken another victim.

Most crime in Paris had given up when Ladybug and Chat Noir appeared and started patrolling the streets. But one gang had taken advantage of the confusion given by the akumas and had started a kidnapping spree. Whenever they took someone, they carved an “M” into a nearby wall. The super duo had looked into them, but they always came up empty handed. They covered their tracks too well. But they both had sworn to take them down.

Alya placed a call to the hotline, reporting that another sign had appeared, and where it was. They continued on, put into a somber mood by the mark. The gang was nearly to the point of being branded a terrorist organization. They went to the cafe, and managed to get out of the mood. They laughed and talked, and Adrien learned something new about Marinette. She really liked his puns. And she came up with several good ones herself.

Later that evening, Adrien couldn’t help himself. He needed answers about Ladybug. So he turned to his only source.

“Plagg, did you know that Ladybug went to our school?”

“Of course. I can sense when her kwami is near. In fact, I know who she is, and her kwami knows who you are.” Plagg was sitting on his desk, eating cheese. He paused only long enough to say his piece, and went right back to it. 

“Seriously? You knew this whole-” There was a sudden knocking on his door. Plagg hid just as his father walked in. 

“Adrien. Who were you talking to? No matter. We need to talk about your behavior recently. You keep vanishing from your duties, and I cannot have that. Because of this recent behavior, I am clearing your schedule for the rest of the school year, so you can continue to be with your friends, and not cancel appointments for them. Once the school year ends, we will talk about your new schedule.” With that, his father left. 

Adrien slumped back into his chair. It was nice that he would have a clear school year, but he dreaded what would come when school ended. He decided that he needed some air.

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Marinette walked back to the school with the others, proud of her accomplishment. She went and entire lunch break with Adrien, and hadn’t made a complete fool of herself. She merely had to channel her inner Chat Noir, the face of confidence and wit. And it was a very nice face…

No. She couldn’t like Chat. She liked Adrien. If she liked Adrien, she can’t like Chat, that would be breaking the rules. And yet, his face kept coming back into her mind, where she usually thought of Adrien. In fact, she now thought of both of them. This shouldn’t be happening. 

Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival at school. They all went to class, and she still couldn’t focus. She had found out earlier that day that Chat Noir went to the same school as her, and chances were, he knew it too. He didn’t do a good job of hiding it. She had ducked into a locker room and transformed. Then, he came out of the same locker room. Maybe he even saw her transform. But he would have told her. 

Suddenly, Alya was poking her.

“Hey, girl, I am so proud of you. You went an entire lunch break with Adrien, and didn’t make a mess of yourself!”

Marinette looked at her with an eyebrow cocked. “Did you think that I couldn’t do it?”

“Of course I knew that you could. I just didn’t think that you would.”

Marinette just rolled her eyes and turned back to her books. She noticed that Adriens’ shoulders were tense, but soon relaxed. Was he listening in? What did he hope to learn? It wasn’t like she tried to hide her crush on him. Literally the entire class knew about her crush. Maybe he was thinking about how to let her down nicely?

Marinette walked home by herself, since Alya was going out with Nino that day. She felt reasonably safe, since the gang usually only attacked after an akuma, and they already claimed their victim. She shuddered at the thought. She picked up her pace, and got home quickly. She said hi to her parents, and went to her room. She still hadn’t put her posters of Adrien back up, since he had come to practice video games at her house. 

She started working on homework, then another design she was working on for the next several hours. There was a soft thump on her roof, making her scream and fall out of her chair. She quickly went to the trapdoor, and looked out. Chat Noir lay on her balcony, breathing hard. 

“Chat, what are you doing on my roof?”

Chat nearly screamed, and literally jumped a few feet in the air. He turned to face her.

“Oh my… Marinette! I’m sorry. I was just out… jumping around the buildings, you know. Superhero stuff. I just lost my footing for a second, I’ll be up again soon. Sorry for the intrusion.”

“Not like that, you’re not. Come in, I’ll get you something to eat.” Marinette grabbed his arm and directed him inside. His weak lies didn’t fool her. She knew when he was running from something. And that was what he was doing now. He didn’t have patrol tonight, and she knew that he didn’t just go for a run. 

“Oh, uh, you don’t need to...” Chat went silent after she sent him a glare.

“I will get you something to eat, and some water. If you need to transform, I won’t look. You aren’t getting out of this.”

“In that case, I think that I will take advantage of this hospitality. I would like to transform. My- I mean, I am getting tired from holding this for so long.” Chat smiled unconvincingly. 

Marinette went down to grab some food, and heard the whooshing of transformation being let go. She also heard another voice ask for some Camembert cheese. She smiled to herself, and grabbed some cheese, deciding to indirectly scold him for being so clumsy. 

Entering her room, she walked to her loft, and sat on her bed. All with her eyes closed. She knew the way to her bed, in her room. Chat still let out an impressed whistle. And then made a strangled sound when he saw the cheese on the platter she had set down on her desk. 

“How did you-”

“I heard another voice asking for cheese. I didn’t know that you had another person with you.” Marinette smiled to herself. 

“Ah, well… we really shouldn’t talk about them...”

“So Ladybug has one too?”

Chat groaned, and Marinette felt her smile widen. She was having fun with this. Maybe she should do it more often…

“I guess the cat’s out of the bag now.” Marinette could almost see Chats’ smirk.

“Do you and Ladybug know each others’ secret identities?” Marinette already knew the answer.

“No, but these guys do. They can tell when the other is close, and after something that happened recently, I asked if he felt his counterpart close. He said that he knows who she is. And that her companion knows who I am.”

“Can I see him?” There was a quick exchange of words that she couldn’t make out, then a black kwami floated in front of her. He looked at her, and she looked back with a smile on her face. “Oh, he is so cute!!” She scratched behind his ears. He leaned into her hand, purring. She let go, much to his chagrin. He looked at her, pleading with his eyes, and she gestured towards a plant she had in the corner. She could just make out the blue eyes showing from behind it. He zoomed over, and met with Tikki.

“Where is he going? I hope you don’t mind.”

“No, I’m sure he will be fine.”

After that, they sat and talked for a while, until it was time for Chat to leave. He called plagg and transformed. He emerged from under her loft, making a large dramatic bow. 

“It is time that I bug out. I shall see you later-” he glanced around, and his eyes landed on her ceiling, where her balcony waited. And she saw an idea for a nickname come to his mind. “-princess.” and then he was out the door, and off into the night. Marinette learned something that night. She was, in fact, beginning to fall for Chat Noir.


	2. The effect of Chloe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is having a great day. That is, until she is seperated from her friends, and has to face Chloe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the beginning of some big stuff going down. Prepare yourselves.
> 
>  
> 
> Please leave your thoughts of the chapter in the comments, please. I welcome any and all feedback.

The week had just started, and Marinette already couldn’t wait for it to end. Alya, Nino, and herself walked into school, and ran into Adrien. He asked if they wanted to see a movie, and they all said yes. They were planning on going that day, but history class had other ideas. They had to do a group report on the early Renaissance, due at the end of the week. They were paired in groups of three, which meant that someone was going to be the odd one out. As it turned out, Marinette was the odd one out, being paired with Nathanael, and Alix. So, the movie plans were moved to the weekend. Now, Marinette just had to get through the project. 

Not that she didn’t like her group. She was good friends with both of them, and was looking forward to the project. However, she would have preferred to be in the group with the others. She just worked better with Alya and Nino, and would have like the opportunity to do something with Adrien. 

The groups were given several minutes to figure out what they were doing for the project before it was lunch time. Group “Better than the rest” decided to meet up during lunch as well, since Alix wasn’t one to do a mediocre job, and had another competition with Kim. It was such a strong competition that Alix took over the project, from the name of the group, to the subject of the presentation. Marinette explained that she was working on her project over lunch to her friends, and started to go to lunch. 

They did not go far until they heard an all to familiar voice ring out.

“Are you kidding me with that bag? Seriously? That yellow does not match anything. Why would you ever be caught in the open with something so horrible on you?” there was a scuffing, like someone falling to the ground. “Oh, no. He is as clumsy as Mari-brat.”

Marinette looked to the source of the noise, and saw Chloe standing over a new student, who was on the ground. Marinette knew all too well how much these situations could get out of hand, so she looked at the other two in her group, who nodded, and she walked up to Chloe. 

“And just what do you think you are doing, Chloe?” Marinette gave her the best glare she had.

“Oh, look, we said her name, and her poor fashioned self arrived. Look, Mari, I found your soulmate. He is just as clumsy as you, and even has the same level of fashion sense that you do.” Chloe didn’t even seem to be phased by the glare Marinette leveled at her.

“Why do you insist on being the worst person in this whole school? And who are you to judge anyone on their fashion? That yellow jacket you are so fond of does not match your hair, like, at all.” Marinette was letting her temper get a hold of her, but she was a little frustrated at the moment. She was tearing herself apart trying to figure out what was up with Chat Noir, and why he kept coming to her balcony since that first time. She was also figuring out what was up with the sudden surge of affection for that Cat, and balancing it with her feelings for Adrien. Now, she was seperated from her friends for the week, and had Chloe being Chloe. And she did not think that it would end well. She was correct, Chloe did not seem to be able to take insults like that. Nothing could have prepared Marinette for the rant coming her way.

“Really? You’re judging my fashion sense? Look in a mirror sometime. Oh, wait, it would just break as soon as you walked into the room. You should feel lucky that I am even looking at you, let alone talking to you. Me, talking to some filthy bakers daughter. I am too generous for my own good. I hear that you are looking into fashion. I really think that you should try for it. You might get a pity job, since you have some of the worst designs I have ever seen. The pity party has already started, too. Why else would Adrien of all people become friends with someone like you?”

Marinette was totally unprepared for this sudden tirade. She had tried to talk, but Chloe just went right over her words. Now, Marinette could only look, mouth hanging open, and tears in her eyes. To add insult to injury, Chloe walked up, and pushed Marinette out of the way, slamming her into a wall. Marinette fell to the ground, leaning against the wall. Chloe turned, and with a smirk said “oops, wrong way.” and kicked Marinettes’ leg as she walked by again, this time walking out the door. 

Marinette turned to apologize to her group, and saw only Alix. After a brief search, she spotted Nathanael, leading Alya, Nino, and Adrien to her. Marinette froze. Alya had a look on her face that made it look like she was about to kill someone, and the boys looked concerned. There was a sudden cry from the onlookers, and Marinette felt something strange. It felt similar to when she transformed into Ladybug, but it felt… evil.

 _“Greetings, Evil Whisperer. I am Hawkmoth.”_ Marinette felt cold. She was being akumatized. Everyone kept their distance as she stood. _“I can grant you the power to make anyone do anything you want you to, with merely spoken word. All I ask in return is-”_

“No.” Marinette figured that if Hawkmoth gave her a choice, she would decline.

_“You decline my assistance with your plight? Why would you turn down the power that I am willingly giving you?”_

“I already have enough things going on right now, I do not need to add being a villain to the mix.”

_“Ah, but you would not be a villain. Ladybug and Chat Noir are the villains. They have taken my property. That is all I want, their miraculous really belong to me. I just want them back.”_

“You are a liar. I will not work with a liar. Leave now, Hawkmoth.”

_“Do you want to let that girl get away with what she said? I am giving you the ability to take your revenge.”_

“I said no. Now leave, Hawkmoth.”

_“You fool. I will get those Miraculous, with or without your permission.”_

Marinette felt the power turn aggressive in her. She fought back, and seemed to be winning. Suddenly, it turned into pain, and she fell to her hands and knees with a cry. The pain did not abate, but she kept pushing it out. It fought back, coming in waves, escalating every time it came. She fought, but her resistance was fading fast. She felt tears running down her face, tears of pain and anger. It almost felt like a well of anger and negative emotions was suddenly opened in her mind, releasing it all into her. She couldn’t fight it. Just when she was about to give up, she felt hands grab her shoulders, and words of encouragement. The words gave her the strength she needed to push the power out entirely. She fell against the person grabbing her, thinking that it was Alya. When she looked up, she was surprised to see blond hair, and green eyes.

Marinette jerked up, and fell against the wall in shock. He reached for her shoulder, and she stood. She couldn’t face him like this. She couldn’t face anyone like this. She knew that she was a mess, and still crying from the experience. She buried her face in her hands, and ran out the door, taking the steps three at a time as she fled from the scene of the event. She saw the butterfly flutter away, and was taken aback by the fact that it was still black. She still needed to cleanse it.

``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Adrien was having a great day. The only hitch so far was when Marinette was taken from his study group. The lunch bell rang, and Marinette told the group of friends that she was going with her group to get a headstart on the project. 

As the trio left the class, they heard Chloe talking to a student. And it was not nice things.

“We should steer clear of that. Chloe has been having a rough time at home. Her father is upset at her, and is refusing to buy her any designer clothes for the week.” Adrien turned his group against the voice, herding the other two with him. They found a quiet corner in the library and started the project. It had only been two minutes until Nathanael ran in.

“Guy, Marinette needs you! Chloe was bullying a kid, and Marinette stepped in. But things got out of hand, and I’m scared that it might get worse.”

Adriens rush out the door was rivaled only by Alya. The four of them ran to the courtyard, and saw Chloe leaving with a triumphant look on her face. Adrien felt his heart sink. He knew that look. He then saw Marinette, sitting against the wall, with a stricken look on her face. And a black butterfly fluttering to her.

Marinette gasped, and the crowd retreated as she got to her feet. Adrien glanced to anywhere he could go to change, but he couldn’t bring himself to even think about fighting Marinette. Maybe Ladybug could handle it herself. 

Marinette seemed to be having a conversation with Hawkmoth. She suddenly gasped in pain, falling on all fours. Adrien ran forward, but didn’t know what to do. She kept fighting something, but she was obviously not going to be able to fight it for much longer. He grabbed her shoulders.

“Marinette! Don’t give up! Keep fighting him! You can do it. If anyone can fight Hawkmoth, it’s you. You can do it!”

She cried out once more, the mask falling away, and fell into him, clutching at his shirt. She looked up, and when she saw that it was just him, she jerked back. He reached out, and she ran out the door. She looked at the butterfly, and Adrien saw that it was still black. He needed Ladybug. Before he knew it, both the butterfly, and Marinette were gone. He looked back at his two friends, and ran after her.

Adrien looked, but couldn’t find Marinette anywhere. He saw a black speck, and ran after it. He needed to get rid of the akuma. Ladybug suddenly flew in, and chased the akuma down, flinging her yo-yo at it, cleansing it. Adrien was startled to see her face, distorted in emotion. A mixture of anger, sadness, and several other emotions twisted her face. She looked at him, gave a sob, and ran into an alley. When he reached the opening, she was gone.

Adrien was startled by Ladybug, and her obvious distress, but he knew that he still needed to find Marinette. He ran to her house, and burst into the bakery. There were a few customers who gave him dirty looks, but he marched to the man behind the counter.

“Is Marinette here? I need to see her.”

“No, she should be at school. Why?” the man- Mr. Dupain, Marinettes dad- looked alarmed. 

“I’ll send Alya over to explain. I’ll be back!” Adrien knew that Mr. Dupain was now worried, but he needed to find her. He send a quick text to Alya, asking her to explain the situation to Marinettes’ parents. 

Adrien ran into an alleyway, and with a familiar cry, Chat Noir emerged, leaping across the rooftops of Paris. He looked in several areas, and eventually came to the park. He saw a small group of people crowding near a corner, and saw a huddled figure in the middle. He dropped to the ground, and detransformed. 

Pushing through the crowd, he saw an old man with a bright shirt and a goatee comforting her. Adrien pushed the crowd back, and approached Marinette. The old man smiled at him, and left. Marinette remained looking downward, even as Adrien pulled her up and to a park bench. They sat for a few moments, with her huddled against him, before Adrien brought them to a standing position.

“Let’s get you home. Your parents are probably worried sick.” He felt her nod against him, so he took off his jacket, draped it around her, and walked her home. Her parents were waiting in the empty dining room, and wrapped her in their arms. Alya stood near the door, and hugged Adrien, thanking him for finding her. They left for school, leaving Marinette to her parents. 

Adrien found it hard to focus for the rest of school, thinking about Marinette. And why Ladybug looked so fierce when she went after the akuma, and didn’t even stop to say anything, or make sure Marinette was OK. She just left, looking like she wanted to be anywhere but there. 

Nobody was surprised when Marinette didn’t show up to school after lunch, except for Chloe. She seemed to think that she had done no wrong at lunch, she merely made sure that everyone knew where they stood. Adrien was past his tolerance limit now.

“You really think that you have done nothing wrong? What is your definition of wrong?” Adrien cornered her and asked after school.

“Of course. I said nothing that wasn’t true.” Chloe was pushing his limits now.

“You said several things that were not true. Marinette is a very talented fashion designer, and has great tastes in fashion. And, I am not her friend out of pity. I am her friend because she is a genuinely nice person. I am not sure that I want to continue being friends with you, though. I don’t want to be associated with someone who is so stuck in her own world that she can’t see the effect she has on everyone else.” With that, Adrien walked away, leaving Chloe to stew.

Later that evening, Adrien sat in his room, trying to get his mind off of the events of the day. He wasn’t sure where his sudden defensiveness for Marinette came from. Until a few days ago, she was merely another person in his class, and now he was dropping friends he’d had for years just because they hurt Marinette. It was how he always felt towards Ladybug, but different. He didn’t know Ladybug very well, but he did know Marinette well enough to know that she was a person worth defending. 

He decided that he couldn’t wait until the next day to see how she was doing, so he started hunting for Plagg. Plagg was just sitting still, staring out the window, which surprised Adrien. Plagg usually just sat and ate cheese, and yet now he was staring out the window, concern written on his face.

“Plagg?”

“Yes, we should go see her. It would not have been easy for her to handle.”

Adrien was surprised by the concern in his kwamis’ voice. Plagg never showed that much emotion for anyone, except Adrien. And that was only rarely. Adrien didn’t think too much on the subject, though. He transformed, and was soon vaulting towards the Dupain-Cheng Bakery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note, since I never got to explain the akuma powers that Marinette would have gotten: Evil Whisperer is basically a person who can say a suggestion, and the person would feel compelled to do it. Not exactly like Jackady, there is no brainwashing, but more like Hawkmoth. She just puts the compulsion in their minds.


	3. Fallout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Adrien have to deal with the after effects of the akumatization.

Adrien landed softly on the roof, in case she was asleep. He hesitated, since he didn’t want to wake her if she was indeed asleep. Still, he needed to see her, to make sure she was OK. He took a deep breath and tapped softly on the trapdoor. It came open swiftly, almost like she was waiting for him. She gestured for him to come in, and took her spot on her loft, while he took the chair underneath it. He released his transformation, and let Plagg go up to her. There was a quick exchange, and soon Plagg went to the plant in the corner. 

Adrien just sat there, not knowing what to say. Eventually, he figured that he should just get right to it.

“Are you OK? I heard about what happened earlier today.”

There was a rustling above him as Marinette shifted. Adrien hung his head, thinking that he made her uncomfortable. 

“I am… better than I was right after it happened. I had a friend help me out, more than I think he knew. The one that I told you about, Adrien? He was the one who gave me the extra strength I needed to throw off Hawkmoth, and he was the one who found me after I ran. He supported me through whole ordeal. My other friends did as well, from what I hear. Alya explained everything to my parents, and Nino made sure that people at school knew what was happening as well. Chloe is basically being boycotted from what I hear. But, I’m still not entirely ok, to be honest.”

Marinette still sounded like she needed a long hug. In fact, since he had changed into different clothes for an event he had to go to, he felt that he might be able. He had never worn these clothes in front of her, and he never wore them in public. If he could find an appropriate cloth on the desk…

Marinette flinched when he stood up suddenly. He had found a large cloth that covered his face, and yet was thin enough that he could still see. He gestured for her to come down to the ground. As soon as her feet touched the ground, he was hugging her, tightly. The cloth covered his entire face, except his mouth, so she would have an issue identifying him. He felt her start to shudder against him, and he realized that she had started to cry again. 

“Princess, are you sure that you are OK?”

“It’s just- he got so mad- it was terrifying. And it hurt, like removing a splinter, but all over my body. My emotions were amplified, like the akuma carried a large cache of negative emotions, and fed it all to me. I nearly gave up. Now I’m scared that he will retaliate against me.”

Adrien could only tighten his hug. He made a mental note to hug her properly tomorrow, as Adrien. Well, he was Adrien now, but she didn’t know that. He needed to get her something. That’s what friends did, right? When someone felt bad, a friend would hug them and give them something to make them feel better. 

Marinette released him, and stepped back, looking at his impromptu mask. “That’s neat. It suits you. Hides your entire face from view. Maybe you should put that into your proper suit.”

Well, she apparently felt better. He let a smile slip onto his face. He examined her, noticing for the first time that her hair was down. “You should wear your hair down more often. It suits you nicely. And, maybe I will implement this into my actual costume. But only if you make it for me. That would be pawsome”

Marinette giggled at his pun, and they sat on her lounge, talking until the late hours of the night. Eventually, it was time for Adrien to leave, since he wanted her to get at least some sleep for school the next day. He vaulted back to his house, letting himself in through his open window. He lay on his bed, and thought about Marinette. She was very resilient, and came back quickly. In fact, if Ladybug wasn’t in his life already, maybe he would consider Marinette in that light.

School the next morning was torture. Adrien arrived early, since he wanted to meet Marinette. However, the entire class arrived, except Marinette. Alya walked in with Nino, and dropped a note on his desk.

_Marinette might be late today. Apparently, she was up late last night. She said she couldn’t sleep._

Adrien felt bad about it. It was him that kept her awake, talking about everything and nothing. He heard a squeak in the hall, and his nerves were soothed. He jumped up and out the door, and held out his hand to help Marinette up. She looked at him, and let him help her up. What she didn’t anticipate was the bear hug that he gave her. She was obviously surprised, and didn’t respond until after a few seconds. They separated, and Adrien led her into class.

That class was spent thinking about how he would approach giving her his gift. He had spent a while thinking about what to get her, and had even risked the wrath of Alya by waking her up in the middle of the night to ask her what she thought he should do. Now, he just had to get it to her. It would have to be tomorrow, since he still didn’t have it, but it would take some planning. 

He slipped a note to Alya, asking her to keep Marinette from her house during lunch the next day. She threw it back at him, saying that she could. Good, that meant that his favorite plan could happen. Now, he just needed to get the present. He tossed Alya another note that told her and Nino to give their presents to him, and he would handle the rest.

The rest of school was filled with Marinette acting very OK. Everyone was surprised to see the change from the Marinette that ran out of the school in tears, and the Marinette that was now laughing and joking, only a day later. Adrien laughed and joked along with her, much to the displeasure of Chloe, who sulked in her chair the entire day. What he didn’t fail to notice, though, was that her smile never reached her eyes, and vanished a little too quickly.

That evening, he went on patrol with Ladybug, and he had the opportunity to ask her why she was acting so strangely on the previous day. All that he got was that it was “personal”. She seemed to be in a much better mood that day, though, so he decided to let it rest. They spent the rest of the night talking about their usual things, but Adrien did notice that she was still not entirely herself. But she was still doing her duty, showing the usual bravery that had made him fall for her in the first place.

But, then again, he was beginning to feel… something for Marinette. Now he had two girls in his life, his Lady, and his Princess. He suddenly felt conflicted. He didn’t want to pursue one, since it would make him feel that he was being unfaithful to the other. That night, he went to bed, torn by this sudden development he found himself facing.

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Marinette was not as fine as she made herself out to be. She still woke up in a cold sweat, thinking about what might have happened if she let Hawkmoth win. She still heard his voice in her head, goading her on to do something bad, or evil. But, Adrien and Chat were both supportive, and they helped keep her grounded. Alya and Nino did as well, but the other two had advantages. Chat was her partner, she was inclined to trust him. And Adrien had literally hunted her down to deliver her to her parents, and had not stopped acting like a true friend. 

Marinette wanted things to go back to normal, but she found that the others had different plans. Alya pulled her away from the boys during lunch, for some girl talk, which was basically talking about the boys in their lives. When Marinette arrived at home after school, she had found a pleasant surprise waiting in her room. Adrien had given her a large amount of sewing supplies, including a new sewing machine, and several large amounts of expensive fabrics. She had no idea how the presents had gotten into her room. When she asked her parents where they came from, they were just as confused as her.

Nino made her a personal CD, with his best work on it. She was very surprised by the quality of the music. Nino should consider a career in the industry, he would do very well. Alya took her shopping for an outfit for the movie on Friday. Even Chloe tried to approach her at one point, but as soon as Adrien walked up next to her and raised his eyebrow, Chloe lifted her chin and walked away. Marinette thought that she heard a sob come from the girl, but she couldn’t tell. Maybe the people shunning her was getting to her more than the blond was letting on.

Friday came swiftly, and with it came an akuma attack. Ladybug and Chat Noir were at their breaking limits by the end of the fight, leaving the scene with just enough time left. Marinette had forgotten to pack cookies with her, so Tikki was sleeping in her bag. She transformed back earlier than she thought, so she had to walk a long distance. She arrived at the meeting point for the movie just in the nick of time, the movie started in 15 minutes. Luckily, businesses like theaters were getting used to late patrons due to akumas.

They walked to the theater, Alya talking excitedly about the footage she got of the recent attack. Nino was hanging on her every word, Adrien seemed mildly interested, but Marinette was only partially listening. She had an uncomfortable feeling that they were being watched. She checked over her shoulder, but found only shadow. But the feeling would not leave her.

She didn’t see the shadow watching from the top of the building. But there it was, watching their every move like a hawk. It decided to give them group one last time with their friend. By the end of the night, Marinette Dupain-Cheng would be no more.


	4. A Thing of Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is attacked by an akuma that seems to have a personal issue with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Strap yourselves in, it's going to be a bumpy ride!

The group of friends walked into the theater, and sat paired off. Or rather, Nino and Alya sat together, leaving Adrien and Marinette sitting together. The two sat and watched the movie, each wondering what was going on inside the other persons’ head. Adrien was thinking about the fact that he was sitting right next to Marinette, and she wasn’t stuttering or freaking out. Marinette was noticing that Adrien was spilling popcorn onto his lap, and when she would look again, they would be gone.

Marinette had asked about any cookies at the snack bar, but there were none. Marinette felt a twinge of guilt, and apoligized to Tikki. Her poor kwami merely nodded her understanding, and went back to sleep. As soon as she got home, she would give Tikki an entire stack of the finest cookies from her bakery. 

The movie was over all too soon, and they left quickly. The akuma would attract the marauders to the area. They were walking back to Ninos’ house, where they would hang out until they had to go home. They walked down the empty street, joking about the movie, and judging some of its’ bad plot points. There was a clatter down a nearby alleyway, making them all jump, and exchange nervous glances, all of them thinking about the Marauders. They walked in silence until they reached a bridge, where they looked back over their shoulders. They all felt like they were being watched.

Suddenly, there was a terrible scream, and a dark shape darted up over the railing. 

“WHERE IS MARINETTE? SHE WILL PAY!!” The eyes found her, and lunged. Adrein stepped in front of her, but it just tossed him aside. “THERE YOU ARE.”

The shape made another lunge, and before Marinette could react, she was falling. Not just to the ground, but also away. She watched her friends’ frightened faces recede away, as well as the bridge. She noticed that Adrien was not among them. The world seemed to go into slow motion. Marinette thought of ways to get out of her situation, and decided on just transforming and slinging herself to safety. She reached for her purse, and was about to call for tikki when a coldness slammed into her back. She tried to call out, but water rushed into her open mouth, and her world became darkness.

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“MARINETTE!!” Chat Noir could only stare at the splash marks in the river, where her body had disappeared. He felt a cold fury rise in his mind. His hands started to shake with restrained fury. He turned to glower at the shape, to see the thing that had done this. It was a dark, shapeless mass, like living darkness, but it eventually turned back into a black clad shape. He ran forward, extending his claws, intent on causing some damage. 

The shape looked at him, and at the last second, leaped away. He crashed into the railing, nearly going over. He turned and slashed with his claws, narrowly missing Nino. He didn’t even see him there, all he saw was the black shape in front of him. It had taken his princess. It will pay. If Ladybug didn’t get there in time, he had his own ways to deal with the akuma.

The shape dodged all of his attacks, leaping from point to point, but also never changing into the shapeless mass. Maybe that was a one and done thing, maybe it was less powerful since this was the second akuma in the same day. Unless, it had been lurking around for a while, like Sabrina had been. Then, he could have a problem.

Adrien saw that a crowd had gathered, it looked like the entire neighborhood had gathered at the ends of the bridge. He pushed the akuma into a lamppost, stunning it for a few seconds. He walked up to one man and grabbed him by the collar.

“A girl fell into the river. You need to find her and get her back here!”

“But Ladybug can-”

“There is no time! You need to find her before it’s too late!”

Chat looked back at the akuma, and saw that it was up and prowling near Alya and Nino. The couple stared back unflinching, and Alya stepped forward aggressively, shouting “YOU TOOK HER!! YOU WILL PAY!!”

Chat, feeling that he might lose another friend if he didn’t stop it, tackled the form, and wrestled with it for a while, never letting it loose. He picked it up and slammed it against the railing. He looked up and noticed several boats going across the river, searching. Then, the akuma took advantage of this distraction and slammed him into the ground. Chat growled, about to slash again with his claws, but stopped when he noticed the pin in the shapes’ hair. It grabbed it, and shoved the form off. He looked around for Ladybug, but saw nothing. Instead, he saw the man he had grabbed earlier walk back up and give a solemn shake of his head. They didn’t find anything. He made his decision. He had to find Marinette. He broke the pin.

“CATACLYSM!” Dimly, Adrien remembered something Plagg had said regarding the use of cataclysm on an akuma, but Adrien didn’t remember. Not until it was too late. Plagg had said never to do it. Adrien cursed as his hand touched the butterfly. There was an explosion of black, and Adrien blacked out.

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Marinette woke up to Tikki worriedly tapping her cheeks. “Marinette! Wake up, we need to transform! Chat needs our help!”

Marinette groggily got to her feet, and propped herself against a building to cough up some water and catch her breath. She figured that she was lucky that she didn’t actually breath in the water. Turning, she saw boats in the river, way farther upstream than she was. They were returning to the shore.

“Tikki, spots on!” Marinette felt the rush of magic cover her, and she leaped to the scene as Ladybug. 

Before she got there, there was a massive explosion of blackness. She gasped. Chat Noir had used cataclysm on the akuma. If the akuma was destroyed like that, all of the negative emotions in it would be released, right into the people standing by. She rushed to the scene, and was relieved to see everyone standing back up. She saw Chloe sitting by the railing. So, she was the akuma. It figured. If anyone were to be an akuma twice, it would be Chloe.

“Chat! Are you OK?” Ladybug took a step back and bumped into a streetlight when she saw the look in his eyes.

“Ladybug. Where were you? Why are you so late? A girl died because you were too slow.”

Marinette didn’t know what he meant. She looked around for bodies, but didn’t find anything. Then it hit her. They all saw Marinette get pushed off the bridge, and the boats didn’t find anything. They thought that she had died. 

“No, she is fine, she-”

“SHE IS DEAD, LADYBUG, AND THERE IS NOTHING THAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT!! SHE FELL OFF OF THE BRIDGE, AND DIDN’T COME BACK UP!! THEY SEARCHED FOR HER BODY, AND FOUND NOTHING!!”

Marinette realized that the crowd was gathering around her, saying much the same things. Alya and Nino were among them. Alya even stepped up and slapped her in the face, calling her a traitor to the heroic cause.

“I promise, she is fine, I can-”

“It’s your fault! It’s your fault!” the crowd was now chanting. They stepped closer, some of them grabbing objects to throw at her. She saw movement and ducked as Chats’ baton extended right for her face. It slammed into the streetlight, almost going right through. If she were standing right there…

Marinette jumped over their heads, using her yo-yo to swing away, still hearing the calls of “It’s your fault.” She needed to get away, to prove that Marinette was fine. She landed in an alleyway, and started running back. She would say that Ladybug saved her, and told her to wait until it was safe. Then they might calm down. She let her transformation release, and started running down the street towards the bridge.

A massive hand slammed into her chest, knocking her off her feet and driving her breath from her lungs. She gasped for air as two massive men stood over her. One of them had a fullbeard, the other merely had a twirly mustache. They both had scars on their faces.

“Nah, not this one. She’s too young! It won’t be any fun.”

“She’s seen our face, you idiot. We can’t let her leave.”

“Fine. I’ll search her.” Marinette felt one of the men pull her purse off of her shoulder. “Just some loose change and a dumb toy.” The purse fell to the ground, and Tikki looked at her from the opening. Marinette knew exactly what has happening. She watched as Tikki started to frantically scratch a message into the dirt while the two men argued by the wall.

“I want to sign it tonight. It’s my turn.”

“No, I will do it.”

“How about we both do it? Maybe it will confuse them.”

“Hey, that’s not bad. Make them think that we took two people.”

There was a large amount of scratching, metal over stone, and then they propped Marinette up. The last thing she saw was two “M’s” on the wall of the building. Then they placed a bag over her head.

 

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Adrien felt like a complete idiot. He should have waited for Ladybug. She could have cleansed it by herself. Now, she thought that he blamed her for Marinette. He hadn’t counted on the release of negative emotions from the akuma. When he came to, he was filled with this rage that he couldn’t explain. And he had directed it at the one person who should have trusted him without reservation. 

Once he got everyone calmed down, everyone felt terrible. Alya couldn’t stop crying. Nino tried his best to console her, but he was also fighting back tears. Chat had run, and transformed back into Adrien. He had sat down next to his friends, and shared their misery.

Suddenly, a memory flashed through him. Something Ladybug was trying to say. “she is fine.” Adrien shot to his feet. Alya and Nino looked at him, and he shared his recollection with them. The same realization dawned on them as well. Marinette was alive. Ladybug saved her, and probably put her in a safe place. The trio sprinted down to the side of the river that Ladybug came from, and started their search.

Their first breakthrough came from a wet spot on the banks of the river. Probably where Ladybug dragged Marinette out of the river. They walked to a nearby street and made their way back to the bridge, since it was the most likely route Marinette would use. Adrien saw a strange shape on the ground in front of them, so he went for it. Alya and Nino had taken separate routes, to increase their chances of finding her. 

The sight that greeted Adrien made his heart almost stop. It was a small purse, one that he was very familiar with. It usually hung around Marinette. If it was here, where was she? He looked up and his stomach fell to impossible levels. On the wall, there were two markings. Two “M’s” scratched into the building.

He scanned the area, and saw a disturbance on the ground. There was a message written in the dirt on the ground. 

Marauders. I can’t change. I’m leaving my help. Please don’t give up. It was signed with a picture of a ladybug, with a line through it.

“My lady…” Adrien felt determination rise in him. They took her. The marauders took Ladybug, and Marinette. Just when he thought that he would find her again… wait. Her help?

“Chat?” the weak voice came from the storm drain. He walked over, and saw a red shape with black spots. It was Ladybugs’ kwami. 

“It’s me. I’m Chat.” Adrien felt a lump in his throat. Ladybug was trapped as a civilian with the marauders.

“I am Tikki. I wish our meeting was under better circumstance. They took her. They took my-” her voice broke.

Adrien couldn’t stop himself. He had to ask. “Marinette was taken too, wasn’t she.” Tikki nodded. Adrien felt the lump in his throat cut off the rest of his voice. He opened his jacket for Tikki.

Adrien called for the other two when Tikki went into his jacket with Plagg, and they came running. When they saw that it was only him, they looked at him with confusion. He couldn’t speak. He lifted the purse, and when he was met with more confusion, he pointed at the wall. 

Alya realized it first. She screamed, then fell to her knees, leaning forward and hugging herself as she started to sob, wailing to the ground. Nino stood there, not wanting to believe. His mouth was open, like was was going to refute the claim, but nothing came out. He instead knelt on the ground, putting an arm around Alya, who leaned into him. Adrien merely fell against the building. His lady, and his princess were now with the Marauders. Adrien vowed that he would not rest until he found the gang, and had freed them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... so, how are all of you doing?
> 
> Anyways, please tell me what you thought of this chapter. I really want to know if you guys actually like it, or if you want there to be a quick ending. Also, feel free to point out any grammar errors that you may find. I have no doubt that they are there.
> 
> If you want to find me in other areas, feel free to check out my tumblr: https://allmyfandomthings.tumblr.com/
> 
> Also, let me know if you would like faster updates on this. I have up to Chapter 9 written, so I won't fall behind.


	5. A month of distress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is captured by the marauders, and unable to transform. Can she manage to break out?
> 
> Adrien is searching the city for his Lady. Can he find her in time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All aboard the angst train!! WHOO WHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

**week 1**

Marinette was held in the chair as they cut off her pigtails, and was given her assignment. She was now basically the servant of the house she was held in. If they needed anything, it was up to her to do it. There were about 15 other girls, all older than her, who took care of her. She quickly became a ringleader of sorts, the source of sanity in an otherwise insane situation. 

If she did things correctly, she would be allowed to sleep at a reasonable time, and would get decent food. If she messed up, they would hit her, and take away those privileges. The force that they hit her with depended on the level of transgression. This was an issue due to her clumsiness. She went to bed without a meal more often than with one.

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The school had an entire day devoted to the event. They set up a memorial for Marinette in the corner of the courtyard. Adrien could never look at it. He just sat in class with his head on his desk, and when it was lunchtime, he sat with Alya and Nino in a cafe, where they just sat quietly. They were forced to talk to a school counselor about the event. Adrien treated that like a meeting with his father. 

After school, however, he became a desperate flurry of action. He spent an hour working on his computer, working with Tikki and Plagg to find any clues online. He then turned into Chat Noir, and grabbed a special bag for Tikki, and jumped out of his window to find clues among the city. There was an akuma attack, and he managed to stop it. Rather than kill it, though, he caught the butterfly in a jar and took it back to his house. The press wanted to know where Ladybug was, but all he would say was “She is busy.” and leave.

The event that truly shocked him was shortly after finding the discarded purse. Tikki eventually came out of her depressed silence and had a true talk with him.

“I need to tell you something, Adrien. And there is no way to make this any easier for either of us, but I need you to be prepared when you find her. There was only one abduction. Only one person was taken.”

Adrien had needed a second after that. One person? But Ladybug and Marinette were taken. If only one person was taken, then that meant… oh. That meant that they were one person. Marinette was Ladybug.

**Week 2**

Marinette was beginning to think that maybe nobody would find her. She knew that Chat was looking for her, but she knew that it would be difficult. She got a small glimpse of outside, and knew that she was no longer in Paris. These guys were experts at not being found. But if anyone were to succeed, it would be Chat. 

Recently, she had messed up a large demand. She was supposed to bring up three boxes of pastries, but she tripped on the way to the table, and they were all ruined. What they didn’t know was that it was on purpose. They were from her parents’ bakery. She was not about to let them get defiled by these men. It cost her a severe beating.

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Adrien was getting frustrated. Hawkmoth had become aware of the absence of Ladybug, and was pushing him even harder. He had 5 akumas in jars hidden in an abandoned building. He needed to find his Lady, and soon. 

He had made a small amount of progress. But it was of no help. In fact, it was the opposite. They used unregistered cars to take the captives, but the cars had fake plates, so they weren’t pulled over for that. Now, he knew that any car could be the one he is looking for. It was the opposite of what he needed. 

In other news, one night was really cold, so he grabbed a scarf. The blue one that his father had gotten him, to be precise. While it was nice that his father had gotten him something other than a pen, it still wasn’t much, so it had gone unnoticed for months. However, he now sat in his chair, looking at his monitor, and fingering the edge of his scarf. There was a ridge that definitely didn’t belong there. His father would not get him something that could be less than perfect, so Adrien looked at it, curious as to what had managed to avoid his fathers’ attention. He was not prepared for what he found written in the cloth: “Marinette”. It never left his shoulders after that.

Alya and Nino needed more help than the counselor could give. Adrien caught them sitting, staring off into the distance. He tried to help them, to talk to them, and while Nino was able to hold a small conversation, Alya just started crying.

**Week 3**

Marinette had started a small scale resistance. All of the captives agreed that if they managed to make them angry enough, the captors might let them go. The captors were violent, but they never even got close to killing anyone. Maybe they would be released if they showed that they were not worth the effort. Not everyone was on board with this plan, but the ones who did not trust Marinette were left alone.

The captors were getting more and more violent to Marinette. Since she had been there for long enough, they decided to show how violent they could get. She went to bed, unable to sleep because of the bruises. She had realized something about these men. They were not your average kidnappers. They did not take anyone with any want to give them back in return for anything. They kidnapped people because they wanted to, and the akumas gave them that excuse. And they were violent because they just had some anger management issues they haven’t worked out yet. At least, that’s what the psychiatrist they recently kidnapped had said.

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Adrien was livid. They were trying to replace Marinette. They had gotten a new student, a girl named Kenzie, and every teacher made her sit next to Alya. They figured that talking to Adrien helped Nino get to some semblance of lucidity, so giving Alya someone to talk to might help her. But all Alya did was sit facing slightly away from Kenzie.

There was one thing that Adrien was grateful for. Hawkmoth seemed to have taken a break. Maybe he saw that Ladybug was the one that prevented Chat Noir from hurting the akumas. Adrien nearly killed an akuma victim, barely stopping himself from ripping into them with his claws. 

A short time after that incident, Adriens father walked into his room and had a talk about Marinette. It was one of the only conversations that Adrien had not hated. In fact, he seemed to be acting like a father, giving Adrien his support. What really hurt Adrien was when he said that Chat Noir must feel this way without Ladybug at his side.

**Week 4**

Marinette was genuinely scared. After one of the runs into town, the group came back with one person missing. Apparently, Chat Noir had apprehended one of them, taking them to the top of a building to interrogate him. The rest of the men were furious with the group. Marinette thought that they might severely injure someone.

The plan to to be insufferable didn’t work. The men caught on that they were doing it on purpose. When they asked for the person leading this insurrection, the girls all covered Marinette, and started taking the blame for themselves. But Marinette wouldn’t have it. She forced the girls off of her, and took the responsibility. She came back with a new gash on her cheek and several new bruises, but also the respect of all the captives.

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Adrien was happy. A few days previously, he had seen a vehicle that had previously been marked as having fake plates, so he swooped down and grabbed one of the men. He interrogated the man, and found out that he was very pliable if given the right motivation. 

He brought the man to the police, and the man told them the location of the place they took the captives. However, it was technically out of the jurisdiction of that particular police force, so they had Chat give them a number for them to reach, and started to make some phone calls to organize a raid on the address.

Adrien went to bed happy for once. He was going to be saving his Lady and his Princess soon. Very soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... I'm sorry
> 
> This was a short chapter, so the next one MIGHT be up later this week. If I can find the time, that is. If not, definitely by next week.


	6. Ladybug: Homecoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is giving up hope. 
> 
> Adrien is getting some hope.
> 
> Who is wrong? Who is right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah. My chapter title is based off of the new Spider-man movie. Whatcha gonna do about it?

Marinette was now the ringleader of a group of girls who could do nothing. The only thing that they could do was support one another. Whenever one of them came back down, there was a group of girls ready to take care of her immediately. If a girl came down with a medical need, the doctor they had acquired managed to make it a little better.

However, Marinette knew that this couldn’t last. This was merely the wishful thinking from some bakers’ daughter. But she had to try, if only to make herself feel better. She was Ladybug, and she would help these girls however she could. However, the men seemed to be realizing this weakness in the girls, so they started to target Marinette specifically. 

They constantly brought her up, barely letting her be with her fellow captives. But the damage was already done. Marinette made a group of girls who could take over when she was away, and to support each other. In that way, Marinette managed to keep things together without being there. This only aggravated the captors, though, and they kept pushing her more and more. Marinette was getting exhausted, and felt sick all the time. She knew that she could not last too much longer without something in her snapping. Where was Chat? Was he even looking for her? Did he even care enough to try? Was Tikki OK? Did she already choose another Ladybug? Was Marinette just a past Ladybug, waiting for fate to finally catch up to her? 

One day, Marinette had found herself as the butt of a joke. As she was delivering some food to the table, a man tripped her, and she fell, slamming her shoulder into the table. Marinette stood amidst loud laughter and tried to pick the food back up, but found that she couldn’t move her arm without a sharp pain lancing through her. She was sent back to the captives’ room, and the captives all forced her to sit against the wall, promising not to let them take her back upstairs until she was better. She sat without complaint, as they gathered in front of her, waiting for the inevitable call for Marinette. And it was thus that she was when the door suddenly swung open, nearly breaking against the wall, making everyone jump in front of her. She could not understand what was said through her exhaustion, but the group parted suddenly, letting a black silhouette through. She couldn’t focus on any of the details of the figure. All she saw was the metal rod he held in a tight fist. She silently forgave the others for giving her up to the captors. Then, blackness overtook her, and she knew no more.

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It was time. Adrien stood, examining the house. It was shabby, and not very large. There was nobody outside, and three cars lined up in the driveway. Chat gave the man in charge the confirmation that one of them was the same car that he had seen earlier when he apprehended the man. He hoped that the other 2 cars meant that everyone was home.

The next several minutes was a quick blur for Chat. This was different from when he was fighting an akuma. Now, he was truly fighting. Whenever he fought an akuma, he usually just ducked around, and taking care of it without hurting anything. Now, he was a black blur that left prone forms behind it. He punched, kicked, and smashed with his baton. He took some sort of strange delight when he took down two of the men, one with a full beard, and another with a twirly mustache.

It was a brief fight, and soon everyone was down. Nothing lethal, but Chat made sure that everyone he took down would hurt when they woke up. Chat ran all around the house, searching for the place they kept the captives. Thinking about it, he realized that they would keep them away from windows, and there was one place that it would be guaranteed. He ran down the stairs to the basement, and saw a heavy door. He hoped that this was it, and nobody was held offsite. He tried the handle and found it locked. This must be it. He stepped back, and kicked it with all of his strength, sending it flying open. 

A large group of girls looked back at him, and closed ranks in front of him, as if protecting something. He scanned the room, and didn’t find who he was truly looking for. No pigtails, no black blazer, no pink pants. His princess must be in another room. He stepped forward to ask where any others were being held, when they seemed to constrict even closer together. Still hiding something.

“You will not get her. You will let her rest.” a tall woman spoke, challenging him, and yet flinching when he stepped forward. Her? Dare he hope?

“You don’t understand. I am here to help. I am Chat Noir, and I have taken care of our hosts. They won’t bother anyone else.” There was a collective gasp from the group as what he said sunk in. They seemed to realize that he was truly there to help.

“Chat? Chat Noir? Oh, my- please, you must help us. She is hurt, she needs help! She helped us get through this, but they hurt her. Please help!” 

The crowd parted, and revealed what they were hiding. It was obvious that they were all extremely loyal to this person, to the point that they were willing to risk the punishment of hiding her. And he did not blame them one little bit, because sitting there against the wall was his goal. Sitting, hunched over, holding her arm, with hair sloppily chopped short, in clothes that hadn’t been changed in over a month, was Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She stared at his hand, then fell to her side, eyes rolling up into her head.

An older girl dashed by him, placing her hand on Marinettes’ forehead. She looked back at Adrien, her eyes misting a little. That was all that Adrien needed to see. He scooped the frail form into his arms and took off up the stairs.

Adrien carried Marinette out of the house in time to see the emergency vehicles pulling into the property. Grabbing one of the paramedics, he nearly screamed:

“She needs to be taken to a hospital immediately. I’ll go with her.”

The paramedic took her wordlessly, and let him into the back of an ambulance with him. They took off at a swift speed to the hospital. The doctors inside took her to a room where they would put all of the victims, and barred him from seeing her. So, he took off running, not even bothering to take off his transformation. 

He ran all the way to the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng were moving around, taking and filling orders with a slowness that Adrien was all too familiar with. It was the slowness of losing Marinette, and being so close to giving up hope. He ran to the counter, getting everyone's’ attention. After all, Chat Noir just ran into a bakery, looking like the hosts of hell were after him.

“I found her. She is safe. Come with me, she is at the hospital, she is fine!” He didn’t have to say who. The parents closed the shop immediately, and got into the car.

Adrien led the parents to the hospital, him running, and them driving, and then to the room. It was filled up now, and still nobody was allowed in. Adrien looked at Marinettes’ parents, and they gave their thanks again, telling him to go get some rest. Adrien ducked into a bathroom, and released his transformation, ready to tell Plagg that he was sorry about the length of the transformation, but his kwami wouldn’t hear it.

“You did what you had to, and I will not be upset by that. Ladybug is safe.” Adrien felt a sudden surge in his stomach. He had saved her. She was safe and sound, in a hospital.

His next stop was the school. The raid took place during school, so he had to artfully get out of it. However, he ran right in, bursting through the door. He grabbed Alya and Nino, and yelled “We got her back!! I just saw on the news!!! They rescued Marinette!” and pulled them behind him. They had reached the front stairs before Alya yanked herself out of his hand.

“Adrien! It isn’t on the news yet! How did you know, really?” Alya seemed to be resisting the news. 

“To be honest, I saw an ambulance fly into the hospital parking lot, and Chat Noir jumped out. Naturally, I wondered what had happened, and so I managed to get a better look. He was with Marinette, taking her into the hospital. It will be on the news soon, though. Come on, I already told her parents, they’re already there. Wait, go on without me. I need to get something for her. I’ll meet you there.” with that, Adrien ran back to his house, and picked up Tikki, and a small gift he had gotten for Marinette. It was a blue jacket, the same blue as the scarf she had made him. 

Adrien ran back to the hospital, and was not surprised by the fact that he was still not allowed in. He waited by the others, all of them standing in silence. They sat for about two hours, only moving to allow room for the others that joined the room as news of the raid had hit the news. Soon, the entire waiting room was full, and people were still coming.

A doctor walked in and called for the parents of some of the girls, one by one. Adrien noticed that without exception, they came back into the room with controlled faces, trying to hide a deep concern. His heart plummeted when the doctor called to the Dupain-Chengs. They came back, and sat near the other three friends.

“She is extremely sick. They had her in terrible conditions over there. In fact, several of these girls would have died if it weren’t for the doctor that they had abducted. They were also surprised by the lack of suicides among the group. It seems that some sort of support group made among the girls. Also, Marinette has a dislocated shoulder. They will have to treat her for these before they can release her.” Tom had to say this, since Sabine was only barely keeping it together.

“I’ll bet you that Marinette had something to do with that support group.” Adrien knew that she had to do with that. He just wanted everyone else to know it too. All he got was a grip on his arm from Tom and a small smile from Sabine. Alya and Nino seemed too shocked from the news to have even heard him. 

“Come on guys, we should give these families some space.” Adrien lifted up his two friends and guided them down the hallway. Before they got far, Alya stopped. 

“Wait, I just realized something. Ladybug is in there! Was her name on that list? What if she is too sick? What if Marinette is too sick? What if she is worse than the doctors realize? Oh god, I don’t think that I can do this.” Alya slid down the wall, her head in her hands.

Nino followed her quickly, and engulfed her into his arms. Adrien suddenly froze. What if she was right? What if Marinette was too sick, and the doctors couldn’t help her? What if she was- 

Adrien was on the ground before he knew what had happened. He sat next to Alya, and curled his legs up next to his chest. He had been so excited to have rescued Marinette that he had not thought of what might have to come afterwards. He felt tears well up in his eyes, and nearly let loose a sob. The only thing that prevented him from crying was the fact that Alya had beaten him to it, and he knew that Nino would not be too far behind her. He had to get them somewhere that they could be together more privately. 

As such, he did not notice the arm that pulled him and his friends up, and herded them to the car. Nor did he notice when the arm pushed them into a shop, through to the back, and onto a sofa. Once he did start to see his surroundings, he saw Tom grabbing blankets for everyone. Adrien sat by himself on a couch, curling back up, and then let his tears come out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't be mad at me. I brought them back together! No more angst!!! Everything will be fine!!! There won't be any backlash to anyone because of the kidnapping and absense of Ladybug!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
>  
> 
> That's what most people say. I am not most people.
> 
> check out my tumblr! https://allmyfandomthings.tumblr.com/
> 
> I just got a twitter!!! https://twitter.com/allmyfandomstuf


	7. Fallout in a white room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette recovers in the hospital room, and Adrien is beside himself with worry. He is also beside Marinette a lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes!! Another chapter!! Have at it!!

Marinette woke up in a strange room, but still surrounded by her other girls. She looked down, and saw that she had wires running out of her. Where did those come from? What was beeping? Were her captors going to start torture now? Oh no, they were. She frantically tried to get them off, but a black gloved hand suddenly shot out and stopped her. The blackness from the hand seemed to seep out into the rest of her vision and she was gone again.

The next time she woke, she noticed that there were more people, and it seemed to be brighter. Much brighter, and… white? One person saw her, and ran towards her. She panicked, shrunk back. She knew that she shouldn’t, but she didn’t know what they were doing. She was shouting something, but she didn’t know what. The person was speaking back, but she didn’t understand. She continued shouting for a little while longer, while the person kept trying to calm her down. The person eventually yelled something over their shoulder, and put something into one of the wires coming out of her. The world returned to blackness. 

Again, she woke up in a strange situation, but it was dark again. The beds around her were silent, but there were people in them. Asleep, probably. She was alone. Wait, no, there was movement by the wall. A black shape that was climbing out the window. She tried to call out, but only a small croak came out. The shape jumped, nearly falling out of the window, and looked back. 

The shape came back into the room and slowly approached her bed. He looked familiar, but she couldn’t figure out why. He seemed… safe. Unlike any of the other guys that she had seen rushing around recently. But she couldn’t think as to why he was so safe. He crouched next to her bed.

“Marinette?” The voice seemed so soft and warm. Like a friend. 

“W-Who are you? I’m sorry, I can’t seem to think right now.” Marinette felt that she should know this person, but she couldn’t figure out why.

“That’s fine. It’s just the medicine they’re using. It’s messing with your mind a little. Are you OK? Do you need anything?” The voice seemed so… concerned? Yes, that seemed right.

“No, I think I’m fine. Just tired.” The figure gripped her hand, giving it a squeeze.

“Get some rest then, princess.” And she did. This time, the blackness wasn’t oppressive, but welcoming. 

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Adrien went up to the window of the hospital. He had to know if she was OK. He quietly went inside, and sat by her bed. She was sleeping, but it didn’t look like a good sleep. She was stiff, her fingers clenching the bed sheet. 

She remained like that for several minutes, and Adrien stayed by her side. He was about to leave when she suddenly woke up. She looked around in a panic, and started to grasp at the various hookups she had on her, saying things about torture and that she had to get them off. He rushed forward and grabbed her hand. She froze, and stared at the hand as if it were part of her nightmares. Then, she passed out.

Adrien went to school, but he couldn’t keep his mind on the class. His mind kept going back to that night. Her eyes were so panicked, and her moves were so reckless. She didn’t know that she was rescued, and probably thought that they were preparing to torture her. He never wanted to see that look in her eyes. Especially not at him.

He invited Alya and Nino to the hospital with him that afternoon. He had spent the last several days by the door, waiting for the doctors to call him and the others in the waiting room to see the patients. They went into the room, and saw that Sabine was already there. Tom and Sabine rotated who was in the waiting room, so that the other could get some rest.

They sat by the doors, and waited. The room was engulfed in silence. Nino didn’t even listen to his music when he waited. Suddenly, there was a commotion as some doctors ran to the doors. Adrien sat up, straining his ears to hear whatever might be happening. It came to him immediately. Someone was shouting from the room. As the Doctors opened the door, the words came out, loud and clear.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHAT IS THIS PLACE? WHY AREN’T THEY MOVING? WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME? NO, STOP, DON’T COME CLOSER!! WAIT!!”

Adrien stiffened. That was Marinette, he was sure. He leaned forward, trying to hear more, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He looked back to see Sabine, and he leaned into her embrace. He stayed there for an unknown amount of time, but he eventually pulled away. 

Alya and Nino were back to hugging, effectively leaving Adrien out of it. Out of all that Adrien had gone through, the one thing that hurt the worst was the fact that he didn’t have a shoulder to cry on. Alya had Nino, Tom had Sabine, Ivan had Mylene, Alix had Kim, Rose had Juleka. Everyone had someone but him, and they never seemed to care.

Adrien excused himself, and walked out of the hospital. His father had been surprisingly understanding of the circumstance, and had cleared out Adriens’ schedule for him. Now, Adrien had nothing to do. Until that night, that is. Adrien had spent every night since he rescued Marinette two weeks prior by her side. She had woken up in that time, but never for very long, and the medication that they gave her kept her pretty loopy, so they didn’t think that she would know how long it had been.

Adrien spent the rest of his day wandering around, waiting for the sun to go down. As soon as it did, he became Chat Noir, and went right up to the room. He quietly snuck in, and saw her. She was sleeping, more relaxed than before. He sat down, and waited. He didn’t think that she would wake up, but he wanted to be there if she did. 

It was late when he stood to go. He opened the window, and started to step out. A noise stopped him, making him jump, nearly slipping off of the sill. It was a voice, unintelligible and obviously unused, coming out in a small croak. He turned and saw blue. The blue of the sky, the blue of a flower, the blue of Marinettes' eyes. He hesitantly approached the bed, not sure if what he was seeing was true. Marinette stared back at him.

“Marinette?” Was all that he could muster.

“W-who are you? I’m sorry, I can’t seem to think right now.” Her voice was so small and weak, and Adrien felt his heart plummet. The medication would be messing with her head, so she wouldn’t know who he was. 

“That’s fine. It’s just the medicine they’re using. It’s messing with your mind a little. Are you OK? Do you need anything?” Chat tried his best to sound upbeat, but failed miserably. He just wanted to be there for her.

“No, I think I’m fine. Just tired.” Adrien grabbed her hand, squeezing it, trying to comfort her.

“Get some rest then, princess.” Adrien felt her hand go slack in his, and her eyes closed. This time, though, she seemed content. She looked so much like she had before, that he didn’t want to leave her. In fact, he lay his head down and was asleep before he even knew how tired he was.

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Marinette woke up with much more lucidity this time. It was early morning, and the room was dead quiet. She looked around, and thought. She remembered some bits and pieces from the last few days. She remembered the black gloved hand preventing her from ripping our her cords, she remembered panicking at the doctors when they approached her. She also remembered talking with someone the night before. Everything was just in brief bits, all the way back to when the silhouette appeared in the room with the captives. Now that she thought about it, she realized that she knew who the figure was. And who she was talking to the previous night. Chat Noir. The same Chat Noir who had visited her at least twice, the last time being before she had passed out last. And who she didn’t remember leaving. But, she had fallen asleep, he probably left afterwards.

In fact, she felt a weight around her midsection. Looking down, her breath caught in her throat. Blond hair was sitting atop arms folded on her bed, the body rising and falling deeply. Chat Noir had fallen asleep on her bed, and was now his civilian self, right in front of her! But, why her? Why not look for Ladybug? Unless he knew already. He would look for the pigtails. Did she still have her hair done up? She reached up to feel, and didn’t feel anything. She touched her hair, and realized just how short it was. It was nearly on par with Rose. She felt panic rise in her chest again, and she started pulling on her hair, whimpering at the loss. If someone put two and two together, they would realize that Ladybug had shorter hair, just like Marinette! They might start to figure it out! Her hands kept pulling on the hair, trying to make it grow, but was only in danger of pulling out the strands.

Hands grabbed her wrists, stopping her tugging. She stopped, and looked at the person who had stopped her. Her eyes were met with green. Bright, emerald green eyes that she had seen countless times before. But they weren’t the eyes of her partner Chat Noir. These eyes were the eyes of her classmate and crush, Adrien Agreste.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What was that? Did you say that you wanted a cliffhanger? No? Well, oops.


	8. cat's out of the bag, and the bug's there too

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette knows who Chat is now, and Adrien knows who Ladybug is. That solves everything up, right? Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a super short chapter, folks! I will have an update soon.

All things considered, Adrien figured that his reveal went rather well. She had fainted as soon as she realized who it was she was looking at. He say by her bed and held her hand while he thought of the other possibilities that could have happened. Well, either way, now she knew who he was. And, in order to return Tikki, she would know that he knew who she was. There was no getting around it. He dearly wished that he could give the kwami to her for comfort, but she said that it was too public, and Tikki would get noticed. Also, Tikki didn’t want Marinette to become Ladybug until she was good and ready.

Adrien visited again that night, and was pleased to see Marinette awake, and waiting for him. His heart fell when he saw her face, though. She was glaring at him.

“How long have you known?” was all she said. 

“The night that you were kidnapped.” Adrien didn’t like her tone. It was just flat. No emotion, nothing. But, how did she figure it out?

“I figured as much. But did it have to be you? I get over one crush, just to get another, and it then turns out to be the same person! And since you knew who I was, you rescued me, but not because I was Marinette, but because I was Ladybug. You would have let Marinette rot in that basement.” Marinette looked close to tears. “But, now, you might as well have left me. My kwami is gone, just abandoned in some random street.”

“Don’t think that. If you weren’t Ladybug, I would have gone to Hell and back to get you home. You are one of my only friends, don’t think that I take friendship lightly.” Adrien moved closer, in case anyone was listening. “And, Tikki is safe. I promise.”

Marinette perked up. “I never told you the name of my kwami.” Her eyes moved to the bag he wore.

A red shape darted out of the bag, and went to her face. Tikki gave Marinette a massive hug on the cheek. Marinette stared, dumbfounded.

“She wanted to wait until you were ready to see her. And, she insists that she stays with me until you are out of the hospital. Something about you wanting to become Ladybug if you see an akuma, no matter where you are at the time.” Adrien gave her a reproachful look. She gave him a sheepish smile back.

“Thank you, Adrien.” Hearing his name from her, while he was still in costume, was surprising. To say the least. He relaxed a little, and gave her a salute before calling for Tikki and exiting through the window.

The next several weeks went by painfully slow to Adrien. Marinette insisted on keeping up with her schoolwork, and somehow managed to pull her grades out of the rut they had gotten into. She was steadily improving, surprising nearly everyone.

The nights were filled with Adrien and Marinette talking together, laughing at the fact that they had never noticed the fact that they were in the same class and had never noticed. Tikki and Plagg always went to some corner of the room, talking in hushed voices. Adrien realized why Plagg always went behind the potted plant whenever he visited Marinette. 

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The time eventually came when Marinette was released from the hospital. She was received with a welcome home party, one that even Chloe went to. Chloe felt terrible that she had caused the chain of events leading to the kidnapping. She apologized for several minutes to Marinette, who tried to say that it was OK, but to no avail. If anyone else was surprised by the behavior, they didn’t say anything.

The event that she was looking forward to was the patrol she was planning on later that evening. She was out of the hospital, so Tikki had returned to her. She was anxious to get back out there. Adrien had insisted on being there, just in case, so they planned on 9:00. The party had ended at about 7:30, so she had time to kill. She spent most of it with her parents, talking about what had happened when she was gone. They pointedly avoided talking about her side of things.

Of all the things that Marinette had to adjust to, the hardest thing to deal with was her hair. She would have thought that finding out that Adrien was Chat Noir would be the hardest thing, but she had gotten over that quickly. She wasn’t disappointed, but rather, she felt that he had gone after Ladybug, not Marinette. But when she brought it up, he had stiffened, his eyes going hard, his face unreadable as he said otherwise. That face was reserved for the most serious occasions, when he would only ever tell the truth. It would take some getting used to, but it wasn’t that hard to get over the initial shock.

Finding out that he knew was, admittedly, very easy. When she was rescued, she knew that he was looking for Ladybug more than Marinette, so when he kept visiting, she put two and two together. He was not there to comfort Marinette, he was there to comfort Ladybug. Or so she thought. Instead, he was there for Marinette first, the fact that she was also Ladybug was just a bonus.

 

Her hair, on the other hand, was a different story. Every time she looked in a mirror, she saw something missing. Her pigtails were gone. Her hair was now just a blue helmet on her head. When she walked, there was no pressure on the side of her head bouncing in step. When she lay down, it didn’t splay over the pillow anymore. Every time she was reminded of the loss, it seemed to be a new loss.

Hopefully, patrol would help her roving thoughts. The clock ticked closer to the time. As soon as it reached the 9, there was a thump on her roof that she was all too familiar with. She opened her skylight, and was met with the outstretched hand belonging to Chat Noir. Taking the hand, she pulled herself onto the balcony and transformed.

“That is very different from mine.” Chat seemed interested in the light show. “I mean, they’re similar in many ways, but it doesn’t involve the ears or tail. It’s just mask, body, yo-yo, and bam. Ladybug.”

Marinette stared. She had never thought about Chats’ transformation before. She launched herself off of her balcony, hearing the indignant cries of Chat behind her. Now, she was free. She flew across a few rooftops, but she caught sight of something that made her stop. On the street below, there was a man, tall and broad, with a beard, walking down the road.

She didn’t know that she was falling until Chat was pulling her back up. She automatically looked down and gave a quick response before she even knew what she was doing.

“Oh, s-sorry. I guess that I slipped.”

Marinette looked up to see Chats’ face, and found it looking down at the ground. At the man. He turned back, with genuine concern in his eyes.

“Are you OK? You didn’t slip, I watched you. Your knee buckled.” His eyes seemed to be searching hers for something. 

“I’m fine. Thank you. I just have to get used to this again.” Chat didn’t seem to be entirely convinced. He let the matter rest, though. “Well, let’s get you to the Eiffel Tower, and see what we have. Then, you are going back home.” The look he gave her canceled out all discussion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, I have something to say about the next chapter. It will be the last chapter of this fic. Enjoy!!


	9. Friends to help recover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien helps Marinette get back into the swing of things, but it is harder than previously thought. Now, they have to make a decision that will impact the rest of their superhero career.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter for this fic. I do hope that you enjoyed, and that this is a satisfactory end to the story.

The next day at school was difficult. Adrien met her at her bakery and walked her to school, but it didn’t help when she got there. The first person that met them was none other than Ivan. Marinette froze, going as stiff as a board. Adrien pulled her in close, and looked at Ivan. For the first time, Adrien realized just how massive Ivan truly was. It reminded him of… oh.

“Hey, Ivan, could I talk to you for a second?” Adrien didn’t want to embarrass Marinette, so he had to talk to Ivan privately.

“Yeah, sure.” Adrien passed Marinette to Alya, and walked away with Ivan.

“I don’t want to be rude, and I don’t want you getting the wrong idea. But please keep your distance from Marinette for a while. And tell Kim the same.” Ivan started to protest, but Adrien didn’t let him. “They people who took Marinette were huge men. Just about the size of you and Kim. She might get nervous if you approached when she wasn’t ready.”

A look of understanding dawned onto Ivans’ face. Without another word, he nodded and ran off to where Kim and Alix were talking. Ivan talked animatedly, gesturing to Marinette, and Kim nodded. Satisfied, Adrien returned to take Marinette back into his arms. Not for the first time, Alya gave them a strange look. 

When they reached the classroom, Adrien realized the other issue that would happen. Problem was, it was too late. As soon as they entered the door, the entire class ran up and started talking all at once. Marinette literally screamed, and rammed her face into Adrien, who took her into his arms. He glared at the group, but they didn’t seem to notice. Ivan and Kim walked into the room, and immediately took charge. They shepherded the class back into their seats, but not before Chloe walked into the room. 

Adrien didn’t know how Chloe would react to Marinette, and he was more than a little scared to find out. It turns out, it was an unfounded fear. She took one look at the girl who was curled up into Adrien, shaking with fear, and she rounded onto the class.

“Are you serious, guys? Are you telling me that you all ignored the texts that I sent last night to every single one of you? I specifically said to leave her alone, and to not bunch up around her. I was very specific. Do I have to call my father on this? I hope not. It would be very unpleasant.”

Adrien was shocked, to say the least. Chloe, standing up for Marinette? It was almost too good to be true. But when Chloe turned back to Marinette, her face said it all. It was covered in guilt.

“I’m sorry, Marinette. I tried to make this easy for you.” 

Marinette managed a weak smile, which made the guilt on Chloes’ face melt a little. Adrien looked at Nino, who nodded and took the seat that Marinette usually took, while Adrien guided Marinette to Ninos’ seat. She leaned into him, still trembling. Adrien turned to look at Ivan and Kim, who gave him a salute. He smiled his thanks, and turned forward as the lesson started. 

On the lunch break, there were screams. Of course. There just had to be an akuma on the first day back for Marinette. And of course it just had to be a wrestler who had just lost his fight. Of course.

Adrien and Marinette made their excuses and left to transform. They arrived on the scene a few minutes later, and assessed the situation. They determined that the belt was the akuma. Adrien was impressed by the way that Marinette seemed to get completely better when she was in the fight. 

The akuma had the ability to push things away with his mind, which was fine except that it felt like a punch. Chat had taken several hits for Ladybug, but she had still taken some. She seemed to be able to come back from them sooner than usual, which Chat found odd. Still, he tried to take the majority of the hits. However, he did notice one thing. She would tense up whenever it looked at her. She tried to hide it, but fear was in her eyes.

Several minutes into the fight, the two heroes had to take a step back. They discussed more strategies, but they knew that they would have to use their powers. They were hiding behind a truck, and talking for too long, though. The truck suddenly flew upwards, revealing the akuma standing behind it. Ladybug stopped. She stared, her pupils going tiny. Her mouth was open, but nothing came out. She was trembling. 

The akuma noticed this as well, and a sneer came onto his face. He reached as if to grab a car at the end of the street, and Chat knew that he had only a small amount of time to move. He darted forward, crashing into Ladybug as the car came hurtling toward him. Ladybug was on the ground, but Chat was directly in the path of the car. It slammed into him, sending him flying back against the wall. Dazed he looked up to see Ladybug staring at him, her face distorting into rage. 

About three seconds later, she was cleansing the akuma and repairing the damage. Chat stood, and a rush of reporters flooded by him, going for Ladybug. This was not going to be good. Using his pole, he alighted onto a streetlight, and searched for her. He found her, huddled in a corner and turned away, trying to keep them at bay. Anger took over him, and he jumped to his lady. He landed to the side of the crowd, and he extended his baton like a railing in front of them. It slammed into the wall, cracking the brick.

“Step away.” That was the only warning that they needed. Looking at his eyes, which were glowering at them, they turned and went to the end of the street. Chat walked to Ladybug, and pulled her into an embrace. “I think that I have to tell them the truth. Otherwise, they will keep coming at you. I need your permission, since it will narrow down the people available to label as Ladybug.”

Ladybug stopped trembling and looked up. “Tell them that you took me somewhere other than the hospital. For safety. That way, they won’t look at patient records.” Chat nodded and started off towards the waiting reporters.

“Attention Paris. I have an announcement to make. After an incident with an akuma, Ladybug was forced to leave and become her civilian self. Shortly after that, she was taken by the marauders. That is where she has been for the past month. Don’t think that you can search the people recovered by the police force and figure her out that way. I took her to another location, without the knowledge of the police. But that is not the point. The point is that you cannot just swarm her like you usually do. Please keep your distance, if you truly do care for her well being. That will be all.” Turning, Chat went to Ladybug, scooped her up into his arms, and ran into an alley so they could transform back.

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Marinette knew that she needed help, but she couldn’t bring herself to get it from a professional. She kept flinching whenever she saw a large man on the street, she couldn’t handle large crowds. Ivan and Kim kept their distance, but she knew why. She was grateful, but she wanted them to be able to come close.

The only thing keeping her sane was Adrien. Ever since she found out that he was Chat Noir, she felt safe in his hands. Not even Alya had the same level as Adrien, which she felt bad about. Alya seemed confused by the sudden friendship between herself and Adrien, but she kept her mouth shut. Marinette couldn’t tell her anyways. Not without telling Alya that she was Ladybug. So, she kept her arms around Adrien and her mouth shut. 

At least, that was the plan. Marinette had to have a conversation with Adrien about their options, and they both had the same idea. So, when Marinette sat by Alya, she was prepared for the questions she knew was coming her way.

“OK, girl, what’s going on?” Alya gave Marinette her famed ‘no nonsense’ face.

“Meet with me and Adrien at lunch, and we will tell you.” Marinette gave Alya her famed ‘I’m sorry’ face.

That lunch, they met up with Alya and Nino. Marinette and Adrien had decided to include Nino in their plans. It didn’t seem fair to shut him out, and yet include Alya.

“We have something to tell you. You deserve to know what has been happening between us recently. I don’t want to keep lying to you. I never really wanted to lie to you in the first place, but we had to.” Marinette somehow managed to keep her voice steady.

“You guys have been secretly dating and since the event that happened, you are now letting everyone know.” Nino seemed proud of his guess. Alya simply stared, looking between the two people, her mouth opening slightly.

“That is a good guess, Nino, but not quite it. You see-” Marinette was cut off by a gesture from Alya.

“I already guessed you, Marinette, but I didn’t know Adrien...” Alya stared at Adrien. Nino looked confused now.

“Well, um… I guess that this makes it easier...” Marinette was losing her confidence. Luckily, Alya couldn’t contain it.

“You are Ladybug and Chat Noir! That’s it, isn’t it? That’s why Ladybug and Marinette vanished at the same time. Sorry girl, but it is obvious to anyone who is paying attention. Like me. But you, Adrien, are the true surprise. Adrien Agreste is Chat Noir. Who would have guessed.” Alya seemed to be done, but nobody had anything to say. Nino stared between the two, his eyes getting wider and wider. Adrien stared at Alya, but Marinette wasn’t too surprised at her reporter friend.

“Well, you’re right. That does make it easier.” Marinette leaned into Adrien. 

“WHAT?” Alya now had more surprise on her face than Nino. “I was just guessing the most absurd thing that I could think of! Sort of. I did guess that Marinette was Ladybug, but I rejected it since Marinette is so clumsy all of the time! And Adrien! Seriously? You’re Chat Noir? Oh my-...”

Marinette started laughing. She couldn’t help it. The situation was too absurd for her not to. Alya had guessed, but was joking, but she nailed it.

“Yes, we are. That’s why we are suddenly all chummy recently. Adrien figured it out because someone had to tell him, and I found out when he spent the night at the hospital and had to calm me down.”

“And that’s why you won’t leave his side?” Alya seemed to be coming down from her shock quickly. Nino still stared.

“Yes. I am just… more comfortable with him. I guess it’s because he is my partner. We have been through a lot recently.” Marinette was glad that it was going so smoothly. She didn’t want to lose Alya or Nino. 

They talked for the rest of the lunch break. Nino never really stopped talking once he got over his initial shock. He kept talking about how he was going to get them to be a crime fighting system. After school, though, he just about ran away from them, shouting that he was going to see them later. 

Later than afternoon, Alya and Marinette were sitting in Marinettes’ room. They were talking about the specifics of crime fighting and how the Ladyblog could help, while Tikki ate cookies on the desk. There was a call from downstairs, but Marinette didn’t have the time to understand it before a shape hurtled from the trapdoor and into the room.

Nino stood in the room, looking around. “Whoa, it’s very… pink in here. Wow. Ladybug likes pink.” Marinette noticed that he was holding several bags in his hand. 

“What are those?” Marinette gestured to the bags. 

“We have to wait for Adrien. He has to be here for this.” Nino seemed almost too excited.

They sat and talked about this and that for a few hours until Adrien finished with the photo shoot he had to go to after school. Nino seemed very interested in the specifics of the miraculous. Alya seemed interested in how much they depended on the Ladyblog already. 

Soon enough, Adrien came into the room as well, and Nino finally revealed what he had in the bags. 

“I realized that you guys might actually appreciate some sort of support system out there, so I got these. There are two headsets, and two phones. They can only talk to each other, so you don’t have to worry about interfering signals. I also got a better way to detect akumas. I set up a server for people to text about akumas, which can send it to various locations. I can set it up to the Ladyblog so it shows up there, but the important thing is that I can set it up to your phones.”

Nino held up each of the items in turn. They decided to test it all out that night, so they transformed and pulled out laptops. The headsets were of a type that didn’t fall off the head easily, so they didn’t have to worry about them falling off when fighting. There were also mute buttons so they didn’t have to hear each other pant and gasp when running and fighting. 

The server was set up on the Ladyblog and all of their phones, and it worked like a charm. Soon enough, the two heroes were running along the rooftops, testing the limits of the phones. It went to all corners of Paris, and even went through most structures. 

For the first time in weeks, Marinette felt truly happy, with no reservations. Now, she had the support of not only Adrien, but Alya and Nino. Now, they could fight akumas together, with a team, rather than just as two teens who barely had any idea what they were doing. 

Marinette knew that it was still going to be hard, but now there was something to go with her. They had decided to set up the “Headquarters” at Ninos’ house, since it was easier to get into without being seen. Meanwhile, Marinette and Adrien could use the bakery. Now, Marinette felt ready. She and Adrien could fight Hawkmoth together with Alya and Nino. For once, she looked forward to the future, and it didn’t seem hopeless. They would face whatever came together, as one miraculous team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While this is the end, I may revisit the story in a later time. It really just depends on if I get the inspiration for another story to pursue.

**Author's Note:**

> If you would like to check out my tumblr, find it here!!
> 
> https://allmyfandomthings.tumblr.com/
> 
>  
> 
> observe my twitter
> 
> https://twitter.com/allmyfandomstuf


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